4 things the Fed does not want you to know about Foreign Online Pharmacies

Everyone knows that ordering prescriptions from foreign pharmacies are much cheaper than ordering brand-name medications from local online pharmacies. Canadian online pharmacies are a favorite among American citizens to buy prescription drugs as these pharmacies sell drugs at cheaper and not-heard-of-prices in the U.S.. What more, there are so many Canadian pharmacies that are well-regulated by the country’s pharmacy authorities and regulatory bodies. Since Canada is nearby and advanced unlike Mexico, buying prescriptions from Canada is considered as a convenient and viable alternative to buying drugs in other online pharmacies.

But the big question is, are drugs bought from Canada legal? Why does the FDA keep warning about the possibility of fake drugstores in foreign countries? Are there not fake online pharmacies in the United States? Yes, there are. Few critics and foreign pharmacy advocates argue that the FDA, along with the Federal government, tries to avoid import of drugs from Canada as it may spoil the pharmacy business of big brands in the country. These critics opine that the government may not want ordinary people to know certain truths in order to prevent them from buying drugs abroad or in Canada:

1. The vast difference in prices: Why does prescription medication prices vary from online pharmacies in Canada to the ones in the United States? The government lays no regulations or price control measures on the medications in the country. There is no price slab within U.S. to control the selling prices of brand-name drugs. The reason stated by the government is – price control may stop innovation and creativity in the medical and pharmaceutical world. Due to lack of price control, big brands – the ones who sell prescription medications – include the R&D, production and promotion costs of a drug in its price. Yet, these same medications are available for lower prices in countries like Canada.

2. FDA’s warning on counterfeit Canadian drugs: The FDA keeps warning that drugs made in foreign countries may be counterfeit and hence it best to buy within the country. This is not always true. A country like Canada has its own pharmacy regulatory authorities – the CIPA or the Canadian Internet Pharmacy Association (www.ciparx.org) and the NAPRA (www.napra.org) to monitor the production and distribution of drugs in the country. Brands which produce drugs in the U.S. have their branches in Canada which sell the same drugs for cheaper prices. So, everything the FDA warns about Canadian drugs is not true as there are good, reputed and CIPA-approved online pharmacies in Canada.

3. The Senate’s stand on buying drugs from Canada: Many senior citizens and other people belonging to the fixed income class travel up to Canada to buy prescription medications for them or their families. Now with online options available, many buy from Canadian online pharmacies. Added to this, considering the fact that drugs are cheaper in other countries, the Senate voted 62 to 28 to allow import of drugs from Canada.

4. Monopoly of American drug companies: American drugs companies monopolize the U.S. prescription market. They try their best to keep Canadian and other foreign online pharmacies out of the scene and also put down the quality of generic medications. Many stories of fake Canadian drugs are circulated by drugs companies to shove off Canadian drug suppliers from the U.S. soil. Due to this confused scenario, many Americans have now shifted to generic medications. But there not many generics available since drug companies play games with their patent rights, extending a patent for more than 20 years. In this bleak scenario, the only respite for Americans are online pharmacies which sell drugs for cheap.